Sounds more, and exactly like Flash on Webkit browsers to me. And AFAIK, Android being Google's own, has some kind of incarnation of Chrome as a browser, being Google's own, which runs on a Webkit engine/framework...

That EcoZoo Flash site linked in the article works without glitches or lag on my Firefox 3.6 on another tab as I type this. In fact, I haven't had Flash on Firefox cause a crash since version 3.5 at least, and I use quite a few add-ons, plus adblock on it. Before that, the crashing wasn't frequent either. My current Flash version is 10.0.42.34 (from March 31st - the latest actual version on Adobe's site is 10.0.45.2) and in my experience Flash started behaving much better overall a few updates ago.

I also gave the EcoZoo site a test run with Safari (with no other tabs open, though) and experienced zero problems. Flash crashing Safari entirely has been a rare occasion lately as well, and I use it daily on both Safari and FF. It's just glitchy and lagging most of the time on Safari.

Since every browser in Os X uses the same exact plugin, located in the system Library, I think it is a pretty safe bet to say the bigger part of the problem lies in how Webkit engine/framework interprets the Flash code and the lesser part of the problem being in Flash code base itself.

Considering almost every mobile browser is Webkit based (except whatever browser MS is going to use on their future products), they might need to focus on that a bit more. Can't really blame Webkit, it's open source. If there's a problem with the code …it's fixable.

Firefox may have seen it's prime already. I have a feeling that they are going to be going nowhere but down from here. Apple + Google putting their weight behind Webkit is going to be some tough competition. Firefox is bloatware compared to these other browsers, and the fact that they are already fighting against the inevitable h.264/HTML5 adoption means they will likely be the only browser that must use Flash to play video. Unless they get their head out of their arse and give up the fight they are going to start looking dated real soon.

I've already moved away from Firefox on the PC side …Chrome is where it's at.

Well, at least two of us got our wish from one of our previous convos on the matter... Adobe opened Flash. And there's already someone else who's produced a competing player.

As for Firefox having seen its prime already- no more than Safari has. Looking at the current trends, I think it still has room to grow in usage, and then will likely stabilize, as will both Safari and Chrome, with more percentage going to Chrome between those two. Admittedly, Firefox is a bit of a glutton, but they've made huge strides in improving that, and it does handle Flash very well.

What it's going to come down to in the future is which one's best for supporting the web as an application platform, which means support for plugins and modules (where Firefox absolutely reigns by a huge margin), its javascript engine (where Webkit/Safari reigns, where Firefox is adopting from for version 4) sandboxing (where Chrome absolutley reigns, as each tab is a protected set of resources from every other... I think they have plans for implementing this into Firefox as well), and HTML 5 support (where Opera trashes everyone, but Webkit and Firefox are pretty much neck to neck- pretty much Webkit and Gecko have support for more standard HTML 5 elements, while Opera has support for other more specific elements and features). All that taken into consideration, I don't see any of the browsers dropping out of the race. Opera will likely stay small, and Firefox may morph into something else or be forked (as often happens with open source projects without corporate backing), but they'll all likely be around for some time.

I'd say IE is the browser which has not only seen, but has passed its prime. The only reason it's still so widely used is due to its entrenchment, but that is giving way, as is the browser's hold on the percentages. Even if they pull out of their hat everything they say they're going to pull out of their hat in the next version, it's done. With three versions of non-standards compliant browsers to implement backward compatibility for, it must suck to be an IE developer.

Oh, an' I REALLY wanna' try out Opera Mini for iPhone and Android. We need more options in the portables market. Competition is good.

Edited by Antonio (05/15/1003:18 AM)Edit Reason: Don't ask me how many times I edited this post... :oP

_________________________“Creative ability is best displayed with the most basic tools."

Xplain's use of MacNews, AppleCentral and AppleExpo are not affiliated with Apple, Inc. MacTech is a registered trademark of Xplain Corporation. AppleCentral, MacNews, Xplain, "The journal of Apple technology", Apple Expo, Explain It, MacDev, MacDev-1, THINK Reference, NetProfessional, MacTech Central, MacTech Domains, MacForge, and the MacTutorMan are trademarks or service marks of Xplain Corp. Sprocket is a registered trademark of eSprocket Corp. Other trademarks and copyrights appearing in this printing or software remain the property of their respective holders.

All contents are Copyright 1984-2010 by Xplain Corporation. All rights reserved. Theme designed by Icreon.